To watch Nikolai Valuev prepare to strip down and weigh in for the final time was to watch a man attempt and fail to find a hiding place inside his own body, writes Elliot Worsell
Nikolai Valuev, a State Duma deputy, has been here before and has done exactly that – which means being part of the hype and giving his take on high-profile fights. A former two-time WBA heavyweight champion (and the first Russian ever to capture a portion of the heavyweight belt) weighed give his take on the biggest Russian boxing event this year – the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight final.
Former WBA heavyweight champion and now the State Duma member Nikolai Valuev spoke to R-Sport on the future of his fellow compatriot and formerly a champion himself, Alexander Povetkin.
He was known as the Beast of the East, a bruising giant of a man who retired from heavyweight boxing before taking a (specially enlarged) seat in the State Duma as a lawmaker for Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party.
Former two-time WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev explained why he rejected a potential fight with Vitali Klitschko back in 2010. The seven-foot 'Russian Giant' as he was called, last fought in 2009 when he lost a close twelve round majority decision to David Haye in Germany. He walked away from boxing with a record of 50-2, 34KOs.
Former heavyweight champions Evander Holyfield and Nikolai Valuev will meet today in Moscow. Five years have passed since their fight in 2008, when Valuev won by unanimous decision and defended his WBA title. In the capital of Russia, the boxers will give masterclasses and then hold a briefing for mass-media, according to BoxKO.ru. After that Valuev and Holyfield will move to Barnaul to join a big tournament as special guests on November 15, where the co-organizer of the event is Vlad Hryunov. In the major fight of the night, Svetlana Kulakova will defend her WBA interim light welterweight title against Florence Muthoni from Kenya. Also, WBA #4 lightweight Eduard Troyanovskiy will have his PABA title defense against Michael Odhiambo from Kenya. Russian prospective boxers Fedor Chudinov and Arif Magomedov will fight on the undercard.
“I’m not here to seek any excuses. I did everything I could”, said a fallen (now ex-) WBA heavyweight titlist Alexander Povetkin in a statement following his hard Saturday loss to Super WBA / IBF / WBO / IBO unified champion Wladimir Klitschko. “I’m disappointed that I was unable to land some of my shots cleanly and I haven’t shown everything I can do”. “I feel myself perfectly, and I’m not broken – not by a bit. Only my back is a bit sore but nothing serious. I’m ready to move on, to train more and more zealously. I feel I will be an official challenger once again in a certain period of time. And then we shall meet (each other) again”, stated Povetkin.
Promoters Vladimir Hryunov and Don King held a big press conference in Moscow to officially announce their May 17th event, which features a cruiserweight showdown between veteran Guillermo Jones and rugged Russian puncher Denis Lebedev, who holds the full world championship of the WBA. The event takes place at the Crocus City Hall. Also at the presser was the vice-president of the Professional Boxing Federation of Russia, Andrei Ryabinsky, TV sports commentator Dmitry Guberniev of RUSSIA 2, and legendary Russian professional boxer and former heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev.
Former WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev (50-2, 34 KOs), 39-years-old, has once again stated that he doesn't have any plans to return to the ring. The "Beast from the East" gained worldwide attention with his massive frame and height of 7'1. Valuev has not fought since losing his title by way of a close twelve round majority decision to David Haye in late 2009. Afterwards, Valuev underwent numerous operations to correct several injuries that were bothering him over the years.
Former heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev could see the possibility of unified champion Wladimir Klitschko dumping the WBA championship over the ongoing dispute with Alexander Povetkin and his promoter, Sauerland Event. Povetkin, the WBA's "regular champion" at heavyweight is the mandatory challenger to Wladimir, who holds the WBA's "super title."